There’s No Place like NAR to Help You to Sell Homes for the Holidays

REALTORS® who have homes on the market during the holidays may not seem like they have immediate opportunities for festive outcomes. However, the holiday season can actually bring incredible opportunities for savvy real estate agents who know to take advantage of seasonal trends.

There is good reason why being active during the holiday season can pay off for REALTORS®. According to a REALTOR®Mag.com article, a seller who is looking to list their home during the holidays is typically an individual that needs to sell, because no one would otherwise pick this as the most convenient time to list a property. Accordingly, these sellers are usually more willing to strike a deal at a better price with qualified buyers. That’s one of the reasons why homes listed during the holidays oftentimes close faster than other times of the year.

Buyer tendencies are another benefit of selling during the holiday season, according to NAR’s Field Guide to Buying & Selling During the Holidays. This resource contains many noted facts and figures about the holiday selling season, including the following three buyer trends:

You will waste less time showing your home to unqualified buyers, because most buyers who look during the holidays are serious about buying.

Listing inventory is lower than other seasons, giving buyers less of a choice and thus increasing the “value” of your home.

Buyers are more emotional during the holidays, which may mean they are willing to pay a higher price for a home they love.

Other resources, such as REALTOR® Mag Blog Styled, Staged & Sold, offer outstanding advice on how to present your home to buyers. One posting entitled “Are you Staging Homes for the Holidays” advises real estate agents to understand it gets darker earlier in the day this time of year. So investing in timers to make sure rooms are lit during showings can make a big difference.

REALTOR.com Advice is yet another source of information offering important facts about the industry, including those that pertain to the holiday selling season. Be sure to read a recent posting entitled “Most Estate Professionals Recommend Clients List Their Homes During the Holidays.” In it you will learn that 60% of REALTORS® advise their clients to list homes during the holidays because they feel it is a good time to sell. Learning how to address holiday season selling challenges, particularly the difficulty of keeping homes clean and staged, are other things you will learn through this resource.

Sometimes a simple list of “Dos and Don’ts” can bring big value, especially to listing agents who are new to selling homes during the holiday season. REALTOR® Mag covered 13 ways to appeal to motivated holiday season home shoppers in a recent article. One of the tips involved the need to take multiple property photos. Why? Images on a website or MLS listing can’t reflect holidays past: no pictures with Halloween pumpkins or Thanksgiving decor come Christmas, and after January 1, no signs of Christmas or Hanukkah. To be sure, buyers don’t want to celebrate a holiday that has just ended.

Don’t forget that how you position yourself to potential sellers during the holidays can make the difference between you getting a listing or not. According to a Minnesota Association of REALTORS® blog, sellers don’t want to hire a real estate agent who is going to disappear during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s. Ensure your soon-to-be clients you will be there when they need you and follow through when the time comes to do so. Going this extra mile will pay off for you in the long run.